Air cleaner for automotive vehicles



K. F. RUSSELL AIR CLEANER FOR AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLES Filed April 25, 1951 \GG W 51 6 as as //v VENTO R. KENNETH F. RUSSELL I V BY /-//5 HTTORNEKS.

HARE/s, ,sc Fos TE R5: Hn RR/S 6r Y nular joint means generally indicated at 28, as presently to be described in detail.

The conical bafile and bottom wall is carried by an annular slotted or perforated sup" porting wall 35 which is frusto-conical in shape and slopes downward toward the axis of the main casing 10. This supporting wall 33 is contacted by the conical bottom wall 29 in the form of an annular welded joint 34 below which there depends from the supporting wall 33 an integral inner, cylindrical baifle flange 32. At its outer and upper edge the supporting wall 33 is supported with a down-turned, integral, outer, cylindrical flange 33, concentric with the flange 32 and tightly seated within the lower end of the main casing Iii as by welding. By these means the conical bottom wall 23 below the filter pack [2 is fixedly positioned in operative relationship. For the purpose of properly retaining the materials of the filter pack 52, the upper side of the supporting wall 38 carries suitable screen means 34 which may be in the form of one or more woven wire screens or perforated plate-like members.

Disposed immediately below the slotted or perforated supporting wall is a removable prefilter element generally indicated at 35 which includes an inner depending circular baffle flange 35 within and extending below the cylindrical flange 32. At the top of the cylindrical flange 35 there is integrally provided a frusto-conical slotted annulus 38 corresponding generally with the slotted supporting wall 30, the outer edge of the annulus 38 being provided with a dependent, concentric, outer flange 39 which extends below the previously mentioned concentric, outer flange 33 of the supporting wall 30. In the bottom of the cage provided by the cylindrical flanges 36 and 39 and the frusto-conical annulus 38 there is fitted a bottom member 40 which also is frustol conical and slotted, this member having short depending flanges 4! at its inner and outer edges which aresecurely fitted within the depending cylindrical flanges 36 and 39 and fixed in position by welding or otherwise as required. Within the cage thus provided there is placed a body of filtering material 42 constituting a prefllter pack, and upper and lower screens 43 and 44, similar to the screen 34, are used to retain such filter pack.

Carried upon the shoulder 21 between the cylindrical cup and wall members 25 and 26 of the oil cup section is a barrier plate 45 of annular shape whose inner portion is flat and is connected by a sloping annular section 46 with a horizontal annular portion 41 which rests upon the shoulder 21 and may in turn have an upstanding, shallow flange 48 engaging the adjacent inner wall of the member 26. The inner edge of the barrier plate 45 is provided with a series of notches 52 through which oil passes up-.

ward during operation of the device, and the seated portion 41 of the barrier plate 45 is provided with an annular series of openings through which circulating oil returns to an oil chamber 53 below the plate 45.

For the purpose of retaining the barrier plate 45 down in its operative position on its annular shoulder 21 at the top of the oil cup member 25 and for retaining the prefllter 35 elevated in the indicated position beneath the annular supporting wall 30, a plurality of springs 54, Fig. 1, is employed, these springs being disposed about vertical legs or pins 55 carried as spaced, opposed Dairs depending from short horizontal supporting cylindrical flanges 32 and 36.

bars 56 which engage under the lower edges of the outer cylindrical flange 33 and the adjacent shallow flange 4| of the bottom member 40. Conveniently, each pair of pins 55 and their bar 55 are provided by an inverted U-shaped member whose lower pin ends depend through small openings in the barrier plate 45 at the points where the lower ends of the springs 54 bear. Thus, when the parts are assembled as'indicated and the upper edge of the cylindrical wall member 26 is placed in operative engagement with the lower end of the main casing in to form the joint 28, the springs 54 are compressed somewhat, thereby serving to press the barrier plate 45 down and working through their bars 56 to hold the prefllter 35 up.

Located on the bottom wall 24 of the oil cup member 25, there is provided a rain guard or deflector generally indicated at 63 which includes a horizontally disposed, outwardly directed, annular, outer flange 6-2 which is connected with the bottom wall 24 of the cup member 25 by an upstanding, annular, spacing wall 63 which forms an outwardly facing annular groove 64 adapted to collect and deflect rain water. The upper edge of the spacing wall 33 is integrally joined with an annular, horizontal, cross wall 65 secured as by spot welding to the bottom wall 24 of the oil cup and provided at its inner edge with a depending annular flange 65 whose lower edge is approximately level with the horizontal, outer flange 62. The upstanding wall 63 and the depending flange 65 thus provide between them a downwardly faced, annular channel space 68 which functions to control air velocities adjacent the air intake, as presently to be described.

By these structural arrangements, the inner depending flange 66 of the rain guard 56 and the frusto-conical extension 23 provide a mouth 70 which receives incoming air entering under suction influences of the engine to which cleaned air is being supplied. Such entering air passes from the mouth '10 into a throat 72 formed by the centrally disposed air inlet tube 22, the entering air continuing into an enlarged chamber 73 which may be termed an expansion chamber and is located directly below the conical baffle or bottom wall 20. From the expansion chamber 13 the entering air passes downward between an in-' 1 turned flange 14 at the top of the inlet tube 22 an an in-turned sloping flange 15 which is integral with the lower portion of the conical bafile or bottom wall 20, and into an annular chamber 16 around the tube 22 and within the depending The normal oil level usually is at the level of the horizontal portion 41 of the barrier plate 45 which is the same level as that of the lower edges of the cylindrical, depending flange 33 and the adjacent flange 4! of the bottom member 40 of the prefllter 35. In

operation this oil level is depressed above the barrier 45 to provide an air-washing and oil-entrainment chamber I1, whence the oil-laden air passes upward into an annular zone 18 which acts as an oil return zone.

When the device is being prepared for use, the oil chamber 53 below the barrier plate 45 and the oil-entrainment space 11' thereabove rare filled with oil to bring it up to the level of the horizontal portion 4'! of the barrier plate, which level is also indicated at Be. With the prefllter 35 supported in position upon the springs 54, as above described, the upper portion of the cylindrical wall member 26 of the oil cup section is attached to the lower end of the main casing H] by being annular chamber 16, it depresses the oil level; whose normal position is indicated at 80, so that such traveling air entrains a quantity of oil in the entrainment zone 11 and deflects it laterally under the lower edge of the depending annular flange 36 of the prefilter 35. This sudden change in direction of the air causes the dust or other foreign matter in the air to be thrown against the upper surface of the nowlexposed barrier plate 45 where it is entrapped by impingement upon the oil-wetted surface. The air and entrained oil are then deflected to the filters where the oil thoroughly wets the filter mass comprising the pack 42, its oil-wetted surfaces also entrapping any dust or other foreign matter still retained by the air. The path of the air is generally indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3 which indicate that movement continues upward from the prefilter 35 into the main filter pack I 2 above the conical bafile or bottom wall 28. The air passing into this filter pack II! also thoroughly wets the mass of filtering material with the result that an oil excess accumulates which returns to the prefilter 35 in a direction somewhat as indicated by the return arrows, this excess oil continuing into the oil return space '18 below the prefilter 35 and thence downward through the oil return openings 50 at the edge of the barrier plate 45 into the oil chamber 53. Similarly, oil is caused to sweep along the upper face of the plate 45, and this oil laden with dust picked up by impingement also passes through the return openings 59 and down into the oil chamber 53. In the chamber 53 there is suflicient quiescence for dust particles to settle out of the oil which then, due to the oil head established at the return openings 59, moves upward through the notches 52 at the inner edge of the barrier plate 45. In the indicated manner oil is constantly circulated into the filter pack l2 and returned therefrom, the cleaned air passing upward through the screen means to the outlet neck II, and the dirty wash oil returning, as stated, by way of the return openings 59 in the plate 45 to the oil chamber 53 which constitutes a separating chamber.

From the foregoing it is apparent that highly eflicient means are provided for excluding rain from an air cleaner which operates out in the weather, and at the same time for cleaning the entering air by oil-bath removal of dust and other foreign elements which may be contained in the air. It will be appreciated also that, by causing entrance of the air through the bottom of the air cleaner and below the bottom wall 241 of the main casing ill, the cross-sectional area of the filter pack I2 in the casing I0 is very much greater than the cross sectional area of the annular prefilter 35.

As a consequence, adequate, low-pressure areas are provided above such bottom wall and along the side wall of the casing [9' to provide for proper return of dust-laden washing oil carried into the filter pack I2 by the movin air. This arrangement also makes it possible to reduce the height of the apparatus, and more particularly the filter pack 12 because of the disposition of the air inlet within the oil cup. Even with this arrangement, the oil cup holds adequate oil to provide for proper wetting of the filter pack elements and return of the oil for separation of solid particles in the oil chamber 53. At the same time I avoid provision of a special waterexcluding cap required with cleaners which are to b exposed to the elements and which receive their air through upper portions of the cleaner.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination in an oil-bath air cleaner: an upper casing enclosing a filter pack and having a bottom wall supporting said pack; an oilcup device at the lower end of said casing having a lower wall and having a central upstanding air tube means supported by said lower wall of said oil-cup device and providin an air-intake pas sage extending through said oil-cup device for directing entering air against said bottom wall; bafile means extending downward from said bottom wall and around said air tube means and providing a free lower edge within said oil-cup device for the passage of air thereunder, said baflle means providing an outer air passage therearound to receive air passing under said free lower edge; air-passin support means for said filter pack above said outer air passage; and a barrier plate carried within said oil-cup device below said free lower edge and around a lower portion of said air tube means for deflecting upward air descending around said tube means, said barrier plate providing oil-passage means adjacent its inner edge for passage of oil upward adjacent said air tube means and also providing oil-passage means adjacent its periphery for passage of oil downward into the bottom of said oil-cup device and thus providing for oil circulation radially outward above said plate and radially inward below said plate.

2. A combination as in claim 1 including a rain guard means having flange means secured to the bottom of said oil-cup device in spaced relation to such bottom and forming a laterally directed annular groove for gathering and directing away from said air-intake passage water running down the side of said cleaner.

3. A combination as in claim 2 wherein said rain guard means includes a downwardly directed flange disposed around the entrance of said intake passage in inwardly spacedrelation to the groove-forming flange means.

4. A combination as in claim 3 wherein the lower edge of the downwardly directed flange of said rain guard means lies approximately'at the level of said groove-forming flange means.

5. A combination as in claim 4 wherein a downwardly faced annular channel is provided between said groove-forming flange means and said downwardly directed flange means of said rain guard means to control air velocities in the vicinity of said air-intake passage.

6. A combination as in claim 1 including spring means disposed between said barrier plate and said air-passin support means to hold said barrier plate down in position in said oil-cup device.

7. A combination as in claim 6 including an annular prefilter device disposed below said airpassing support means and around said downwardly extending baiTle means, said spring means being disposed below said prefilter means.

8. In combination in a rain-excluding air cleaner: an upper casing enclosing a filter pack and having a bottom wall means supporting said pack; an oil-cup device carried at the lower end of said upper casing and having a central, upstanding air-inta-ke tube which directs entering air against a central portion of said bottom wall means, said air tube providing a downwardly opening air inlet; and rain guard means disposed around said air inlet to exclude water from said inlet, said rain guard means including annular flange means secured to the bottom of said oil-cup device and having a laterally directed flange ring forming a laterally and outwardly directed water-receiving groove through which rain will pass horizontally from one side toward the opposite side as the structure is moved horizontally.

9. A combination as in claim 8 including an annular, inner, depending flange means disposed approximately at the edge of said air inlet and spaced inwardly from the outer edge of said angular, groove-forming flange means.

10. A combination as in claim .9 wherein a downwardly facing annular groove is provided between said depending flange means and said groove-forming flange means.

11. A combination as in claim 10 wherein the bottom of said downwardly facing annular groove and the lower edge of said depending annular flange are disposed approximately at the level of the lowermost portion of the said groove-forming flange means.

12. In combination in a rain-excluding air cleaner: an upper casing enclosing a filter; an oil-cup device at the lower end of said casing; air inlet means for supplying air to be cleaned to a zone below said filter and above said oil-cup device; and rain guard means disposed about said air inlet means and including horizontal, outwardly directed flange means forming a horizontal, outwardly directed groove extending around said air inlet means to receive water running down the side of said cleaner and dis- 10 charge such received water laterally in a region beyond said inlet means.

13. A combination as in claim 12 including means providing an annular downwardly facing channel within said groove-forming means to control the velocity of air passing beneath said groove-forming means and channel to said inlet means.

14. A combination as in claim 13 including a depending inner flange about said inlet means and spaced inward from said groove-forming means to control the velocity of air passing through said inlet means.

15. A combination as in claim 12 wherein said inlet means extends upward from the bottom of said oil-cup device.

16. A combination as in claim 12 including a dependinginner flange disposed about said inlet means and spaced inward from said grooveforming means and depending below the adjacent bottom portion of said oil-cup device to provide a free lower edge approximately at the level of said horizontally directed flange,

KENNETH F. RUSSELL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 230,952 Mark Aug. 10, 1880 1,751,915 Hall et a1 Mar. 25, 1930 2,367,227 Lowther Jan. 16, 1945 

